Ava stepped out of the tent as the sun was going down. She could smell the faint scent of her mate and another scent that she recognised as her fathers. She ignored her fathers scent and followed the trail of her mates instead. She wasn't ready to meet her father just yet and was starting to get hungry.
She weaved through the tents; the noise of soldiers polishing weapons and armour preparing for battle could be heard. She heard sounds of laughter and drinks being poured as they celebrated the last hurrah! She felt eyes follow her, but ignored it. She zeroed in on the feeling and felt Artemia stir within opening one eye. She felt the members of her old pack watching her as she moved through the encampment. And honestly, I don't want to see them either.
She turned around slowly feeling the magic inside her swell so that she could make a shield against them and came face to face with her father.
Shit!
Ava took a step back, swallowing a growl that wanted to escape her mouth. She clamped her mouth shut tight and tried to get her emotions under control. She failed.
"Ava!" Her father exclaimed, a small smile forming on his mouth.
"It's good to see you." She pushed out.
His face fell for a moment as he tried to think of what to say next.
"I just wanted to say -" Don said. He stopped talking as he tried to gather courage. It had never been this difficult to talk to his own daughter.
"After you left -" He began but Ava brushed passed him.
"I don't have time to talk right now. I'm looking for someone."
"Your mate. I know, we've met him. But I just wanted to talk to you about what happened after you left."
Ava stopped and turned quickly.
"Excuse me? Before I left? Do you hear yourself?" She asked, she could feel the fury start to burn in the pit of her stomach.
She turned around and hurried away trying to control her temper.
Ava, calm down.
Artemia, not now!
"Wait! Ava! Please just give me a moment to explain -"
Ava moved through the tents until she came to an opening on the other side of the encampment. She could see the rest of the army that was just down the hill. They had erected their own tents and built fires for what would be a long cold night. She took a deep breath and tried to clear her head.
This is not going to work.
You have to keep your emotions under control. Artemia said.
As Ava tried to keep her breathing even, she felt her father come up behind her.
"Ava we need to talk about what happened after you left. Please...just let me get it out so I can stop thinking about this!" He implored.
Ava closed her eyes.
"Why do you keep saying it like that?" Ava felt her power tingling in her fingers and seep out slowly.
"There was a battle when you left. The barrier had weakened completely from the onslaught that Nyxs goonies had done, that they had a chance to come through your protections." Don said urgently.
"Dad." Ava's voice began to hitch.
Don took a deep breath and closed his eyes stealing him with what he had to say next.
"And Ava...they killed your mother." Tears we're now streaming silently down his face.
Ava's breath stopped and she started to slip down to the ground . She was holding on by a thread as the last year of abuse came back to her crystal clear.
Dead?
Ava, calm down.
Nyx, killed her?
Artemia stood whining as she watch Ava's power begin to completely spill over. If she let this power out now she would kill all the men and women they brought with them.
Artemia howled loudly hoping her mate would hear.
"Dead?"
Ava turned to her father, her eyes glazed over white with her untapped power. Artemia began to separate from Ava and howled loudly turning her head to see her mate running towards them followed by the King.
Raoul stepped in and grabbed his mate tightly around him. He held her before pulling away to look down at her face.
"What happened?" Raoul looked up at Ava's father and back down to her. Her eyes were still glazed.
Don sighed heavily before answering. "I told her what happened after she left our pack. That her mother was killed in battle."
Ava tensed in Raoul arms before she let out a high pitched scream. The sound continued for a few moments before Ava blacked out, going limp in her mate arms.
Raoul swore under his breath and lifted Ava into his arms, shouting for a physcian.
Men and women moved out of the way as Raoul raced through the encampment to their tent, his legs giving way as he just walked through the door.
The physician came in a moment later and began working on Ava; a sound could be heard in the distance.The earth beneath them began to tremble and men and women everywhere started screaming. The witches that were resting ran out of their tents while hurriedly putting on their shoes.
"What's going on?!" Mera, an elemental witch yelled.
Vittoria came out of her tent her long jacket swirling around her knees.
I thought we'd have more time. She looked around the camp and found her husband standing over Ava's body while the physician worked on her.
Vittoria saw Mera and the other witches rushing out of tents trying to calm everyone down when the earth beneath them trembled enough that the tectonic plates shifted wildly.
Mera rushed over to Vittoria and helped her up from the ground after she unceremoniously fell on her butt.
"What's happening?"
"I don't know. How are the witches doing?"
Mera closed her eyes briefly and felt the other witches still holding the barrier to the portal closed.
"They're holding on."
Vittoria nodded, gently untangling herself from the witch.
"The battle is about to begin. Everyone to their stations!"
Vittoria walked into the tent that Ava was being treated in and started ordering the men about, especially her husband to get their "ruddy armour on!". She watched as the men ran out to do just that, then turned to look down at Ava.
"How's she doing?" Vittoria asked the physician.
The physician looked up at Vitoria and shook his head, "I don't know. She's physically fine, but she passed out for some reason. Her mind just seemed to cut out."
The physician lifted Ava onto a portable cot in her tent. He didn't know what to do about this. This girl always seemed to get into some kind of trouble. She never had a moments peace. He lifted her eyelids one by one, flashed a light to check the responsiveness of her pupils. Fine.
"There's not a lot more I can do for her now. Whatever is happening she has to find a way back herself."
******
Ava woke in a small room on a white cot that only had one small stool that had a single plant sitting on top of it on the other side of the room. She stood and started to wonder through the room.
The room was white; nothing special. It seemed off but her instincts weren't kicking in to say she was in danger. She heard classical music off in the distance. It sounded like bells and water droplets hitting the ocean. A door to her left opened slowly and the sound of music could be heard a little louder and clearer.
Ava walked through the door and followed the music until she came to another room that was brighter, whiter and had long billowing shear curtains hanging from its incredibly high ceilings.
The sound was coming from a single, naturally finished grand piano. Flowers were strewn on the end of it, which smelled strongly of honey suckle, freesia and something else she couldn't place but saw instead. Roses.
A lady played the piano, wearing a heavy emerald cloak that covered her head and face from view, but she continued to play the piano as if nothing strange was going on.
Laughter could be heard and Ava saw two younger women chasing each other through the curtains. They looked no older than eighteen. But oddly, one had hair as white as starlight and the other had hair as dark as a moonless night. They were the polar opposites, but they were happy.
Ava turned back to the piano and the song changed. Clair de lune to Nocturne Op.9 No.2.
Her mother loved this piece, especially when her father was away, she would play it on an instrument that hardly seemed to be used. When Ava was forced to stay home as a child instead of going off with her father, her mother would teach her music, and would play these pieces.
Ava's eyes began to blur and she wiped them away quickly.
She walked slowly to the woman before placing her fingers on the top of her head and pulling the hood down until it touched her shoulders.
"Mom?" Ava whispered.
Erys turned to look at her daughter and smiled. Ava sat down next to her and brought her mother close for a tight hug.
"What are you doing here?!" Ava asked.
"You know what I'm doing here if you only looked within."
Ava closed her eyes she couldn't feel Artemis, it was like she was elsewhere experiencing what she needed to while Ava was with her mother.
"You see those two girls over there?"
Ava nodded.
"I'm betting you know who and what they are."
Ava nodded again.
"Have you any idea how to help them?"
Ava shook her head.
Erys smiled warmly.
"But you will. You will know what to do when the time comes."
Ava lifted her hands to the piano and picked up the Nocturne again.
"I don't think I want to help them. They both have given me problems." Ava looked at her mother, "If it wasn't for Nyx, you would still be alive and here with me."
Erys looked at her daughter and saw what Ava did not. Time and experience had aged her well beyond her years. A sad thought for a mother.
"I am where I was always destined to be." Erys turned away from her daughter to contemplate her next words. "One can't hide from destiny. It has a way of running after you the more you try to ignore it." She shrugged and picked up where Ava stopped.
Ava turned back to stare down at the keys as tears ran down her face. She wiped them away quickly before sighing and standing up to leave.
"Will I ever see you again?"
Erys looked up at her daughter and shook her head slowly.
"Not for a very, very long time."
Erys continued to play and the song changed to something else entirely. The sound of war, a battle and people dying. Ava faded away from view and missed the single tear that flowed down her mothers cheek.
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